


After all this time?

by ProfessorBanks



Category: game of thrones
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ashara is a bad bitch that will hurt you if you call her son a bastard, M/M, Modern AU, Smut But not that explicit, mentions of Daenerys Targaryen, mentions of Rhaegar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-17 23:49:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17570288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorBanks/pseuds/ProfessorBanks
Summary: Years ago, Ashara Dayne and Ned Stark fell in love and had a child. After seven years apart, they have to face each other when Ashara’s son calls her crying from his father’s house.





	After all this time?

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of my crackship 🌚 and this idea was stuck in my head for quite some time, which was blocking me thinking of anything for my other fanfic that I’m currently having writers block on so I thought why not just write it down so I cus stop thinking about it. I hope you enjoy it! 🥰

<https://flic.kr/p/QGBZya>“Mama, I want to come home.”

 

The trembling voice of her baby boy was all it took for her to jump on her families private jet and go to Winterfell from Kings Landing. He was crying, she could tell. He always tries to hide when he’s crying because in his own words ‘I have to protect you, Mama. It’s my job and I can’t do my job if I’m not brave and crying is not being brave.”

 

She took him in her arms that night and said, “you’ll always be my hero, baby. We all have moments where we’re afraid. Never be afraid to tell Mama when you’re afraid.”

 

How badly she wanted to hold her baby boy right now was infuriatingly unmeasurable. She never should have let him come. That she knew, but she had wanted to believe his father would protect him and Jon had wanted to see his brother again. He had begged her to let him come to spend the summer in Winterfell, and after much pleading on his part, she had reluctantly agreed. He deserved to have his father in his life, he deserved to know what it feels like to have that bond with his father. It wasn’t in no way his fault his existence was brought about the way it was and he shouldn’t be punished for his mothers and father’s mistakes.

 

Mistake. She hated that word.

 

So many people would use it to describe her child, but if she had the chance to do it all over again, she’d do it the same. She’s made a lot of mistakes in her life, but her son is not one nor will he ever be one of them. He’s the most preciously beautiful thing she’s ever had to chance to lay her amethysts on. He was so sweet, so caring and kind. She didn’t understand how anyone could be vile towards him, but she did know when she got her hands on whoever did decide, they’d pay dearly.  
It matters that what people think. They didn’t voice said thoughts to her face and the gods be with them if the courage to ever do so goaded them.

 

She took a deep, harsh breath as she stared at endless piles of green as the Black Sedan made its way to Winterfell. Anxiously thumping her right black, sleek heel in the floor of the truck. She hasn’t seen Ned Starks in seven years. She hasn’t seen him since he kissed her on the forehead in that hospital bed after she just had given birth to their son and told her everything was gonna be alright.

 

“Everything’s gonna be fine, Ashara. I promise.”

 

He said it as if he was not only trying to convince her, but himself also, albeit doing a horrible job at it. They were two foolish fools who thought love could conquer all, not knowing that the world was an opponent ferocious in its being and accepted defeat very seldom. I guess you could say they were doomed from the very beginning because fate has a way of rearing it’s ugly head whether you desire it or not.

 

In her hazed state, she remembers nodding and then asking, “where’s Jon?”

 

“He’s just over there. He looks just like me. I can’t wait to bring you both home”, he promised with a kiss to her full lips.

 

He never did bring them both home, in fact, a year later he ended up bringing an entirely different woman and her child home. Ashara didn’t blame him though, they both knew from the very beginning that he would have to marry the Tully girl. She just never expected to fall so deeply in love with him, she never expected to whelp him a child.

 

“We’re here, Ma’am”, the driver calls, pulling her out from mulling over the past.

 

“I won’t be long”, she tells him as she grabs her Chanel purse.

 

“Take all the time you need, Ms. Dayne. You’re the one who’s paying”, he says with a chuckle that she returns.

 

She looks upon Winterfell, bleakness in its state and oddly enough she feels thankful that she didn’t end up here. It’s dreary, daft and colorless. Stark contrasts to her homeland and personality. She’d never be able to allow herself to be confined to only being ‘Lady Stark Of Winterfell’. She loved her freedom too much, and being constricted to preparations, party planning, and playing the role of the dutiful wife did not agree with that at all.

She takes a deep breath and continues on. The doors are open, there’s a receptionists that instructs her wait in the foyer after Ashara tells her that she’s Jon’s mother. The look of judgement on the receptionist face doesn’t faze Ashara, she’s used to it. There’s no telling what Catelyn has told the people of the north about the seductress who begotten Ned Stark’s first born. Ashara takes a seat, crossing her legs, sitting her purse down beside her. She has on a red, strap dress that comes above her knees. After long, her baby boy comes

“Mama”, he yells, throwing himself in her waiting arms.

She kisses his cheek. “I’ve missed you so”, she informs him with a smile.

“I’ve missed you too, Mama. I’ve been having so much fun with Father and Robb.”

Ashara nods, her hands still holding his small, chubby face. “Yes, but you called me crying last night. You want to tell me what all that was about?”

His smile instantly disappears. The glow in his eyes now replaced with fear. Ashara heart quickens at the sight. What could have happened?

“I don’t want to talk about it”, he says, in a small, petulant voice.

“Jon. Do you remember what I told you? That it’s okay to be scared sometimes, but never be scared to tell me when you’re afraid? Don’t be scared to tell Mama when someone has hurt you either. Now, what happened?” She asks again.

He doesn’t say anything for a while and she decides to wait on him to open up. She doesn’t want to pressure him.

A single tear fall downs his face. She catches it with her thumb.

“A bastard”, he finally says, barely audible.

She has to make sure he said the right thing, she has to hear it again. She prays she heard wrong. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

He looks up to her. Brown eyes filled with big tears that are now falling. “Lady Stark called me a bastard. I was playing with Robb, and I said that we both can be the Lord of Winterfell. She got so angry. She said I was a bastard and that you were a whore and that I could never be Lord of Winterfell.”

“Oh, Jon”, she croons. “I’m so sorry.”

He shakes his head, tears still falling. “I know you think I don’t know what I bastard is, but I do. It means that I’m not really my father’s son, like Robb. It’s why I’m Jon Dayne and not Jon Stark.”

She feels like a poor excuse of a mother. She couldn’t even protect her son from one little word.

She holds him to her. Tight. She kisses his wild tresses. “Go get your things. We’re leaving”, she instructs him, clearing her throat.

“But Mama”- he protests.

She gives him a look that says her decision is final.

He leaves the room with his head down, reluctantly.

Ashara takes deep calming breaths. She has one task before she leaves. One goal.

She goes to the same receptionists and tells her to get lady Catelyn to the foyer.

“But lady Catelyn is busy, Ma’am”-

Ashara gives the woman and icy glare. “I don’t care. Tell her to get here now or I’ll speak to lord Stark.”

With that, she turns back to go to the foyer and wait. She sits back down in her same position, legs crossed. Elegantly.

After some time, the woman of the house hold arrives. Her demeanor is cold, but Ashara’s can be colder.

“Ms. Dayne. You wanted my presence.”

Ashara looks around the poorly decorated room with visible disgust. Her hands folded on her knees, she finally looks to Catelyn, staring daggers at her face. After a while, a bright, untrue smile breaks out across Ashara’s face.

“Catelyn Tully. Oh, excuse me, it’s Catelyn Stark now. It’s been some time since we’ve last saw each other, I don’t really know what you go by now”, Ashara chuckles. She cocks her head to the side. “Or do you prefer Lady Stark?”

Catelyn chin is high. “Lady Stark will do just fine, Ashara Dayne”, she emphasizes the Dayne.

Ashara lets out a giggle. “Technicalities. Don’t you just hate them? Sometimes, they can be quite hindering or very resourceful. Because on technicalities, My son is the oldest Stark child of Eddard Stark. Do you know what that means, Mrs. Stark”, Ashara asks with the tip of her head.

 

“No, I do not.”

“Ask me what it means.”

“I prefer not to.”

“Ask. Me. What. It. Means.”

“What does it mean?”

“Well, It means that by law, bastard or not — as you like to call him — my son is the rightful inherited of Stark Incorporations. Which means that if I deem wanted or primitive, he’ll inherit everything that was originally discussed to go to your son.”

“You wouldn’t”, Catelyn shoots back.

“Oh, but I would!” A few moments of intimidating silence passes over them as Ashara peers at Catelyn with an icy glare. “Fret none, Lady Catelyn. I will not take anything from your sons mouth. My family has more than enough to buy Stark incorporations twice over, which means that when my son does reaches adulthood, he will not need for anything. And I also would not punish a son for his mothers discrepancies, unlike some”, Ashara says mockingly, with a tight smile, hands still folded on her crossed legs.

 

“I assume he’s told you that I called him exactly what he is? A bastard”, she questions.

Ashara shakes her head. “You seem to forget that he is as much a product of me as he is his father’s. That his father took part in the act of his creation just as much as me. So, why don’t you punish him? Your husband”, Ashara stands. “I get it, you think this is all a game. That Ned’s heart is the victory to be won and somehow my son is the villain of this story. You play at it, and you can continue to play at it with whoever you may choose, but you will not play at it with my son any longer. He is a child. He has no parts in what has conspired between Ned and I-“

 

“But he does!”, Catelyn screeches, chest heaving. “Your son has every part in it. He is the living proof that my husband loves another woman. Still loves another woman! He still loves you! He doesn’t think I know, or maybe he doesn’t care, but it is your name that ghosts off tongue when he’s inside of me. His wife! When we lay in bed and he blindly reaches for me, I pretend to ignore the disappointment in the way his hands move across my body once he realizes I am not the beautiful Ashara Dayne! How do you think that makes me feel?!”

 

“Your sorrows could fill a river and I could be suffering from dehydration and I still would not drink. You are a simple woman. I simple minded woman that bases her worth on how much a man desires or loves her. What a sad way to live”, Ashara looks at her with disgust.

 

“I would rather be a simple woman than a whore mother of a bastard! Where is your sense of propriety?! Do you have no shame!”

 

“Fuck propriety and fuck you! Yes, my son may be looked down upon by because of his birth status, but I would not change a thing. He was conceived with passion, love, and adoration! I have never felt more worshiped than when Ned Stark was inside of me, he and I as one, and he whispered in my ear that he wanted me to have his children. Can you say the same, Lady Stark ? Was your son made the same way? Or did lord Stark hover over you as he did his duty? For proprietary sake?”

 

Rage dominated Catelyn’s visage. “It’s isn’t right! That bastards existence isn’t right!”

 

With that the inkling of restraint Ashara was trying to hold onto scurried away. She darts forward and yanks Catelyn’s head back with a firm grip in Catelyn’s Auburn hair. Her head jerks back a bit from her resistance and Ashara steadies her with another hand to her throat. Nails digging groves into Catelyn’s skin.

 

“Ashara.”

“Mama.”

The two voices come in unison, one deep — filled with shock — and one small, trembling. Ashara’s head snaps to the door to see Jon, Ned, and his son, Robb standing there. She doesn’t know who mumbles the ‘Mama’ but suspects it was Robb because his eyes are filled with fat tears. It’s like a gravitational pull that has her immediately searching his eyes after darting her orbs over the two small children. Questions; that’s what his face says. Questions and seemingly disbelief. He looks the same, she concludes except for the hair. He’s cut the long locks that he used to dawn. She tries to ignore how handsome he still is.

“What’s going on”, Ned asks, his voice hoarse. Face straining.

Ashara gathers her self control and backs away from Catelyn, releasing her with a shove to her throat. “Tell him.”

Catelyn face is towards the ground. Refusing to met anyone’s eye.

Robb runs to his mothers side. Hugging her from the side. She wraps her arm around him, face still towards the floor.

Jon’s at Ned’s side, looking up with wide eyes.

“Tell me what”, Ned questions, eyes never leaving Ashara’s slender form.

“Tell him”, Ashara demands.

“I called Jon a bastard”, she says as if it were nothing.

Ned’s eyes finally snap from Ashara to Catelyn. “You did what?”

Catelyn takes a firmer stance. “I called him what he is. A bastard child.”

“And that is why I am here. Jon called me crying last night because your wife called him such a vile thing”, Ashara snaps.

“Why would you do such a thing, Catelyn? He is as much of my son as Robb. You will not treat him this way”, he reprimands.

“No need to worry. She will not get the chance to do so again”, Ashara intercepts. Grabbing her bag, and ushering to Jon’s side to leave. She grabs his dainty hand in her dainty hand while his other is on the strap of his backpack. The backpack is too large for him, which she would’ve found quite adorable if not In this situation. She doesn’t look at Ned as she walks past him. The butler is following closely behind as they make their way to the car.

She ignores Ned behind them until she makes it to the car, turning to him as she waits for the man to finish packing Jon’s things in the vehicle. “Jon, give your father a hug.”

Ned’s pleading with her with only his eyes, but after he sees she won’t relent he bends down to hug his son.

“You won’t be seeing me again. I’ll have Rhaegar to bring Jon to see you whenever you’re in Kings Landing, but he won’t ever be coming back here”, she says, after helping Jon into the car.

“You can’t just leave. We have to talk about this”, he prods with an upturned palm.

“Talk about what? I won’t let my son endure this unjust treatment. He doesn’t deserve it. You’re his father, I thought I could trust you with him. You were supposed to protect him”, she derides harshly.

“I didn’t know! You think I would’ve let her talk to my son like that if I had”, he snaps back.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done and now we all have to live with it.”

He hesitates for a couple seconds, lips parting wordlessly as his chest heaves before wrapping his arms around her.  
He buries his head into her neck, hefting his right hand behind her head, palming it, holding her to him, his left hand on the window of the truck. Despite herself, she closes her eyes, relishing in him.

 

She doesn’t quite know what to do with her hands, so she just lets them fall beside her.

 

Breathing in his distinctive scent. He still wears the same cologne she derives as she takes deep calming breaths of him, the intoxicating fragrance flooding her senses, threatening to throttle her defenses, but she can’t let those walls she built to keep herself grounded be tore down so easily, therefore she forces her eyes open. Deciding to let him take whatever it is he needs from her, because this is it. This will be the last time they see each other. This is the end.

 

Before long, the crevices of her neck is wet. It’s muffled because his mouth is pressed into her skin, but she hears him ask, “Where will you two go?”

 

“To that bloody hotel until tomorrow and we get out of this damned place”, she answers.

 

“You hate that hotel”, he says laughing.

 

She misses hearing him laugh. She wishes she could record it and listen to it over and over again, like a broken demo.

 

“Stay here tonight. Please, allow me that.”

She shakes her head. “No. I may hate that hotel, but I dislike your wife more”, she chuckles.

It seems as if they’ve been in this position for hours, and she’s enjoyed what time she’s had to be in his presence after all these years, but it’s time to let the past come to a halt so the future can become anew.

“I have to go, Ned.”

 

His arms tighten around her, like he’s scared she’s gonna disappear, and then his grip loosens, ultimately untangling his limbs from here. He steps back, his head hanging low, sorrow plastering his face. Another verge of tears threatening to spill.

 

She takes his face in her hands, and wipes stray tears away with the pads of her thumbs. She gently leans in and places a kiss under his right eye. His eyes flutter shut.

She pulls away and says, “Goodbye, Ned.”

It takes everything in her to turn away from him and open the door to the truck, but she does and tells Jon to tell his father goodbye.

“It isn’t goodbye, buddy. I’ll be in Kings Landing two weeks from now to take you to the aquarium there. I’ll even bring Robb”, he promises with a smile, leaning into the car to give his son a warm hug.

 

Ashara doesn’t look back at Ned as she gets into the car, she can’t. She cant bear to watch the sadness in his eyes as she leaves him for the second time. Instead, she wraps her arm around her baby, using him as an anchor to keep it all together.

 

•

They made it to the hotel around five o’clock. Ashara took him to the park in between time to get his mind off of things. He mulled around with his head down in the beginning, but she was glad when another woman came with her son and eventually Jon and him ended up playing together. At the park there’s dirt and where there’s dirt where children are in the vicinity, it’s bound to get all over them. Jon has dirt every, she groaned inwardly as she poured a cup of water into his black, dusty looks in the tub, encouraging him to lean backwards a bit. She studies her sons face. He looked so much like his father that it sometimes hurt to look at him, she imagines it’ll be even worse now that she’s had the chance to compare their features since Jon’s grown of age. Jon has her plump lips, but his father’s everything else, no doubt. His chocolate, big round eyes, his long curly hair, and nose. His personality. So kind, honest, and forgiving. Too honest, to a fault.

 

She quickly pushes those thoughts away and finishes washing Jon’s hair. When she’s finally done, she gets him out and towels him off. Putting lotion on his body before putting on him a white t-shirt without any bottoms, leaving him in his Wolverine underpants.

 

They’re in bed now, watching Jon’s favorite movie. Finding Nemo, a movie about a father fish trying to find his son after he gets lost in the big ocean. Ashara has watched it so many times that she’s certain she can recite every line word for word. Jon’s tucked into her side with a bowl of popcorn in his lap. She’s running her hands through his still wet hair absentmindedly watching the movie but not.

“I won’t have anyone to play with anymore.”

Her heart feels like it’s being squeezed, like a bodice three times too small is around it.

“What do you mean, baby”, she prods, already half knowing exactly what he means.

“I won’t have anyone to play with”, he says, putting the bowl of popcorn beside him and twisting in her arms to face her. “Now that I can’t come back to see father here, I won’t be able to see Robb.”

She runs her hand over his hairline, brushing back his wild curls. “You’ll have Daenerys, and Rhaegar and Elia’s new baby. You have your friends from school and your father said he will bring Robb along when he visits you.”

 

His little chubby face contorts with a groan. “But all Daenerys ever wants me to do is play dress up with her and have tea parties and the baby’s too little.”

 

Ashara shakes with laughter. “Then why don’t you just tell her you don’t want to play? I’ve seen you with lipstick on, so maybe you do enjoy it.”

 

He hangs his head low. “Because she says she’ll give me kisses if I play.”

 

Ashara pokes in the side. “What kind of kisses, bugger.”

 

“Just kisses on the cheek. Not the kind grownups give one another.”

 

“And how do you know about the kind of kisses grownups give each other?”

 

He scrunches his face up. “From watching tv.”

“Well! Looks like mommy’s censoring the channels when we get back home Mister”, Ashara exclaims, tickling Jon. Sending him in sprouts of laughter. She’s glad she was able to drift his mind from gloomy thoughts and lets his laughter fill her ears.

“Mama! Mama, stop”, he laughs out, doubling over the bed.

Her phone ringing slices through the laughter and she stops with a kiss to the side of Jon’s face. She throws her legs to the side of the bed and stands, the cold of the floor contacting her feet instantly. Her silk, peach robe dragging as she goes to the table.

 

It’s Elia.

 

Ashara groans because she knows why she’s calling. To see how things went.

Ashara reluctantly clicks the answer button, bringing it to her ear. “Hello?”

 

“Hello?! You were supposed to call me hours ago, bitch. How’d things go?”

Ashara peaks around her shoulder to see if Jon’s listening. He isn’t, he’s back eating his popcorn and watching the movie.

 

“They went alright”, she lies.

“You lying bitch”, Elia exclaims. “If we were strangers and I didn’t know a lick about you, I’d know you were lying! If my son had called me crying I know for a fact the peace would have been disturbed and I’m a recluse! Tell me, now!”

 

Ashara face contorts. She knows she’ll never relent until she knows what happens so she tells her. “I may have... grabbed her by the hair and almost choked her.”

 

“Oh, Gods! What happened”, Elia shrieks.

 

“She- she called Jon a bastard. She told him that he’s just a bastard and that he didn’t deserve to play with her true born son.” She hugged herself with her left arm. “When I got there, he asked me what a bastard was with tears in his eyes. I was just gonna talk to her, but then she called him one to my face. I lost my cool. I don’t regret any of it, though.”

 

Elia whimpers into the phone. “Is Jon alright? That must have been traumatic for him.”

 

Ashara sighs. “It is. He doesn’t know what’s going on or why, he just knows he won’t be able to see his brother. I hate this, you know? I don’t regret or resent the way he was brought here, but I wish I could just make it better. For his sake. Wish it could have turned out differently.”

“I understand. How did that go? You seeing Ned after seven years”, Elia asks.

“He hugged me. He...he cried.”

“He cried?! Oh, Gods! You’ve always had that man wrapped around your finger. No offense, but if I was Catelyn I’d hate you too.” Elia laughs.

“Yeah, Yeah”, Ashara laughs, dismissively. “We were all forced into something we didn’t want. And I gave up, I told Ned to go to her, I pushed him away because I didn’t want to be the one broken-hearted in the end. Was I wrong?”

“No, of course not”, Elia denies. “You were protecting your heart, you can’t be at fault for that. When a turtle is scared, they crawl inside their shells for protection. You were young and had a right to be scared. You were 20 years old with a baby, a baby with a man that you knew from the beginning had to marry another woman. You had a right to go inside your shell and hide.”

Ashara groans. “When did you get so smart?”

“My mothers intuition is kicking in. Only two more months to go.”

“I can’t wait to meet it. Have you guys decided on a name yet”, Ashara asks.

“No. And the ones that we have come up with a unisex since we don’t wanna know the gender. I just feel like when we look into our baby’s eyes, we’ll kn-“ a soft knock reverberates through the hotel room. Ashara wonders who it could be, she doesn’t know anyone from this far up north. Maybe it’s room service, she guesses.

 

“Elia? There’s someone at the door, I’ll have to call you back.”

 

“Ok! Call me when you two get on the plane!”, Elia calls out before Ashara hits the end conversation button.

 

Ashara goes to the door and looks through the peep hole, and the sight before her leaves her heart convulsing in her chest.

Him.

He’s standing at her hotel room door, hair tousled and eyes red. Looking frantically to either side of him. What could he be here for? There’s only one way to find out, so she ties her robe tighter around herself. She runs her hand through her own tousled hair, suddenly self conscious about her appearance and grips the doorknob. The doorknob feels like frostbite to the hot of her skin.

 

“Mommy will be right outside”, she calls over with a seemingly now dry throat to Jon who’s not even paying attention to what she’s saying. She hear him mumbles something, but it’s all drowned out as she twists the knob.

The door opens with a click and Ashara is met with wide eyes. She steps further in to the hallway and closes the door behind herself. She puts her back to the wall, arms folded over her chest.

“What are you doing here, Ned?”

He frantically runs husband through his hair. “I left Catelyn”, he merely says.

She doesn’t believe what she’s hearing. “You did what”, she asks, emphasizing the what.

He takes a deep breath. “I left Catelyn”, he repeats.

“Why would you do that?” she questions, shifting back then forth on her feet.

“Because I don’t love her. I love you.”

“She’s your wife. You just can’t leave her. What about Robb”, she says disbelievingly.

His tongue darts out to lick his lips. “It’ll be worse for him to know his mother and father don’t love each other. Better than him seeing the dislike they hold for one another. I want to set an example for him, i’m his father. It’s my job. And if I didn’t come here to night and face what I’ve been trying to ignore for seven years since I walked out of that hotel in Kings Landing then I’m a coward.”

 

He stuffs his hands into his pockets. He doesn’t have on a jacket, just his dress shirt on. Ashara examines his face. His eyes are brimming red, looks as if he’s been crying or indulging in one two many bottles.

Ashara raps her arms around herself, tighter. “You’re tired Ned, it’s been a long day. A lot happened. Just go back home, and be with your family.”

He taps his feet to the ground, forcefully. “No! You’re my family, you and Jon and Robb”, he reprimands.

“I’m just the mother of your first born. Nothing more.”

“You know that’s not true. You’ve been my family since I met you at that party Elia threw when we were 20.”

“It’s been years, Ned. Seven to be exact. We had one year together. When we weren’t fucking like rabbits, we were partying. We had three months before I got pregnant and then the other nine months were filled with doctors appointments, prenatal vitamins, and hiding the fact that I was pregnant from your father. We don’t really know each other. So, go back to your family. Things are fine the way they are, why change them”, she asks halfheartedly. She doesn’t even believe what just came out her mouth, but she tells herself that she’s right and that this would never work.

He brings his right hand out his pocket to abrade his face. “I know you. You’re the only person in the world that I know the way I do. The only one I want to. And I think it’s the same for you, because if not, why haven’t you moved on. Why haven’t you found someone to love you like you deserve.”

 

She wraps her arms tighter around herself, if that’s even possible and takes a more defensive tone. “I don’t need a man. Make no mistake, you’ve not been my only romantic partner since we parted.”

 

“I didn’t ask that”, he says through gritted teeth. “Don’t talk about another man with his hands on you, ok?”

“Me and you will never work”, Ashara derides.

“You’re thinking about all the reasons it won’t, but what about all the reasons it will? Maybe you’re right, maybe I don’t know you anymore, but I love you. And we can build anything off of that love. I’ll work night and day to build that love. Will you build with me?”

 

Ashara glares at his pleading face.

 

“If we walk through that door, it’s forever. I can’t play with Jon’s feelings like that, we’ve hurt him enough because of our mess”, She finally lets out in a small voice she doesn’t recognize, almost timidly.

 

Trepidation lacing his every step, Ned closes the distance between them and holds her face in his hands. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Ashara. You are my life, every breath I take. I know, that’s the corniest shit I’ve ever said, but it’s true. I can’t breathe without you. I want to be able to breathe again”

She takes a big gulp, her wide amethysts peering up at his chocolate arises fill with love. Love she’s been trying to escape since seven years ago. His distinct smell is invading her senses, leaving her defenseless and this time she doesn’t fight it. She lets it consume her. “Do you really mean that?” She asks, her insecurities getting the best of her.

He nods, vehemently. “Yes. I’ve been pathetically obsessed with you since you decided to smile at me at that masquerade seven years ago with that gorgeous sheer, purple dress.”

Ashara laughs. “You remember what I had on?” after all this time, she thinks.

“I remember everything about that night. I even remember our first kiss on that balcony”, he assures. He leans in, brushing his lips against hers. “I remember how soft your lips were. How they fit into mines as if they were made for me and especially for me. I remember the way my hands tingled when they touched your skin for the first time”, he says in a deep husky voice, eyes never leaving hers. He trails the pad of his index finger down her color bone, pushing the silk past. The sensation sending jolts right to her core. His hand swivels around to kneads her ass ever slowly. “The way your ass felt in my hands when I grabbed hand fulls of it”, she gasps into his open mouth at this unexpected act.

 

He finally stops his torture and dives in, clashing his mouth with hers. His tongue darting in and out of her mouth, taking hard licks and suckles. This feels like heaven to her, she’s dreamed of being back in his strong arms, feeling worshiped for all the right reasons. His strong hand kneads her breast through the fabric, pinching and pulling at her nipple. Her hips, as well as his, start mechanically grinding against one another. She can feel his erection through his pants. He hefts his hands into her long black tresses. He then trails wet kisses from the side of her mouth to her collar bone, pushing past the silk to unleash a taut nipple. She grabs his ass, pressing his manhood to her, praying for more friction to come to her core.

He sucks on it until it’s red and ripe and she’s moaning into the halls of the hotel. Which brings her back to her reality.

“Ned”, she pants, gasping from his ministrations. “We have to stop. Jon’s waiting for me, and we’re in a hallway and you’re still married.”

He finishes with one firm suck that has her yelping, the nipple coming out his mouth with a pop. He sighs, laying his head on her chest.

She runs her head through his hair. Places a kiss to it. “Come on”, she takes him by the hand, leading him to their son.

“Jon, hunny”, she begins with her hands clasped in front of her when they make it to the bed. “There’s someone here to see you.”

She feels Ned’s hand leave the small of her back and he steps up from behind her at the same time Jon looks up to see who.

“Dad!”, he lauds enthusiastically, practically throwing the bowl of popcorn to the side and leaping into his father’s arms. “What are you doing here?!”

Ned looks to her for support then ultimately decides to jump this hurdle by himself. Ned sits on the side of the bed with Jon on his lap. “Son, in life, you’ll be faced with hard decisions”, he says after a thoughtful minute, his hand coming up to scratch at his beard. “Decisions that If you make, will most likely affect the people around you. Sometimes in a good or bad way. But, if you make that decision with your heart, and believe that you are making the best decision, for you, then it’s right”, he proclaims, with a pointed finger over Jon’s heart. “No matter what anyone says, follow your heart. In the end, It is your heart that’ll be broken if you don’t.”

Jon nods with an ajar mouth. “What’s the point?”

They all break out into burst of laughter.

Ned throws Jon into the air. “It means that I’m coming home with you and your Mama!”

She couldn’t help the tear that fell down her cheek as she watched her little family.

 

And as she watched Jon and Ned settle down, Jon coming to lay on the left of him, and Ned pat the side of the bed for her to welcome his embrace, she was complete. She had her son and the man she loves. She couldn’t be happier. The toothy smile that’s displaying her face is evidence enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to comment!


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